San Francisco, CA (My Sportsbook) - The San Francisco Giants will try to maintain their two-game lead in the NL wild card race when they play the first of a two-game series against the San Diego Padres tonight at Pac Bell Park.

On Sunday, Jeff Kent and Benito Santiago hit solo homers in the ninth inning, as San Francisco kept the pressure on the Dodgers in the National League wild card race with a 3-1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Giants won for the fifth time in six contests and secured their first three-game sweep in Milwaukee since 1999. San Francisco has won 24 of its last 34 games.

With one out in the ninth, Kent clubbed his 37th homer of the season, a shot to left field off Luis Vizcaino. After Barry Bonds grounded out, Santiago belted a 420-foot homer to center. It was Santiago's 200th career round- tripper.

Felix Rodriguez (8-6) picked up the win in relief by retiring just one batter, while Robb Nen threw the ninth inning for his 41st save. It was the 312th save in Nen's career, moving him past Tom Henke into 11th place on the all-time list.

Giants starter Kirk Rueter allowed three hits, while walking three and fanning three over seven innings.

The Padres suffered a 4-3 loss to Los Angeles on Sunday. Mark Kotsay went 3- for-4 with a pair of solo homers for San Diego, which has lost two straight and 14 of its last 20 games.

Russ Ortiz, who is 5-0 in his last five starts, takes the mound for the Giants tonight. In his last two starts, the righthander has allowed six runs through 13 2/3 innings. He last pitched on Wednesday and yielded three runs on seven hits through six frames in a 7-4 win at Los Angeles. The Giants are 7-2 in his last nine starts.

Ortiz is 2-0 with a 4.82 ERA in three starts against the Padres this season. He last faced San Diego on September 13 and permitted three runs over 7 2/3 innings in a 10-3 win.

Lifetime, he is 8-2 with a 3.68 ERA against San Diego. In 14 starts at home this year, he is 4-4 with a 3.36 ERA.

Countering for the visitors is rookie Oliver Perez, who is 0-1 in his last six starts. He has gone 0-3 since last winning on July 7. On Wednesday, he surrendered five earned runs on five hits over four frames in a 10-3 loss to Arizona. Perez has been tagged for six runs in his last three starts, a span of 16 innings.

Perez is 0-0 with a 2.25 ERA in two starts against the Giants this season.

In six starts on the road, Perez is 1-2 with a 4.17 ERA.

San Francisco owns a commanding 12-5 lead in the season series and is 6-1 at home versus the Padres this year. Since last season, the Giants are 14-3 versus San Diego at home.